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SHEAR WALLS
by Timothy P. McCormick, P.E.
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SHEAR WALLS
This section provides an introduction to shear walls and how they resist earthquake and wind forces. This section also shows how to properly construct the shear walls and the parts that make them up. With this knowledge, contractors can build proper shear walls and inspectors can recognize the errors untrained contractors make.
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Fig.3.2 - Location of Shear Walls Shear walls are most efficient when they align vertically and are supported on foundation walls or footings. When shear walls do not align, other parts of the building will need additional strengthening. Consider the common case of an interior wall supported by a subfloor over a crawl space and there is no continuous footing beneath the wall. For this wall to be used as shear wall, the subfloor and its connections will have to be strengthened near the wall. For new construction, thicker plywood or extra nailing and connections can be added. For retrofit work, existing floor construction is not easily changed. Thats the reason why most retrofit work uses walls with continuous footings underneath them as shear walls. (Fig. 3-3)
Cripple Wall
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Fig. 3.4 -Vertical Offset of Shear Walls Another type of alignment problem occurs when the ends of shear walls do not align from story to story. This condition creates the need for extra framing members and connections in the walls for holdown devices. Holdown devices must transfer the uplift from the shear wall to framing members that can resist it. When full height studs are not available, special connections must be added. These connections must assemble enough of the structures framing to resist the uplift. (Fig. 3-4, 3.5)
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Fig 3.8 - How Shear Wall Length Changes Shear & Uplift
Uplift forces exist on shear walls because the horizontal forces are applied to the top of the wall. These uplift forces try to lift up one end of the wall and push the other end down. In some cases, the uplift force is large enough to tip the wall over. Uplift forces are greater on tall short walls and less on low long walls. Bearing walls have less uplift than non-bearing walls because gravity loads on shear walls help them resist uplift. Shear walls need holdown devices at each end when the gravity loads can not resist all of the uplift. The holdown device then provides the necessary uplift resistance.
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Fig. 3.9 Shear walls also provide lateral stiffness to prevent the roof or floor above from excessive side-sway. When shear walls are stiff enough, they will prevent floor and roof framing members from moving off their supports. Also, buildings that are sufficiently stiff will usually suffer less nonstructural damage. (Fig. 3.9)
HOW SHEAR WALLS PROVIDE STRENGTH The strength of the shear wall depends on the combined strengths of its three components: lumber, sheathing and fasteners. Later in this section you will learn how each
component effects the strength and how strength is lost by improper installations. When all of the components are properly in place, the shear wall can provide its intended strength.
For shear wall sheathing, the 1994 Uniform Building Code (UBC) permits the use of gypsum wallboard, cement plaster, fiberboard, wood particleboard, plywood and oriented strand board. Previous editions of the UBC also allowed wood lath and plaster, horizontal and diagonal sheathing for shear walls. All of these sheathing materials provide different strengths. The UBC shows these strengths in pounds per foot of wall length. Fasteners for shear wall construction may be staples, screws or nails. Denser lumber species provide stronger fastener strengths. Values for shear wall strengths assume a dense lumber species like douglas fir-larch or southern pine. Thicker framing members also increase wood structural panel sheathing strengths. Fig. 3.12 Fastener Strength Failure
Seismic Retrofit Training
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Wall Displacement
Fig. 3.14
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1994 Uniform Building Code City of Los Angeles Building Code Amendments (LABC) Wood Frame Shear Wall Construction
Shear Wall Sheathing Material
gypsum lath & plaster gypsum wallboard-unblocked gypsum wallboard-blocked fiberboard portland cement plaster-unblocked portland cement plaster-blocked plywood -3 ply panels plywood & OSB- 3/8 inch particleboard diagonal sheathing-conventional diagonal sheathing-special wood structural panels
LABC
30 30 30 0 90 90 150-200 150-200 175 300 600 150-650
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